As the stadium roared, TV cameras zoomed in on an ecstatic Jatinder who was now surrounded by fellow spectators. The youngster’s life, as he knew it, had changed.

“To be honest, I got up and didn’t think it was going to make it as far as me. I thought it was going to land short, so then I sort of gave up on it, and then it kept going and next thing I know it was in my right hand. Really, it happened so fast. I started jumping up and down, that’s not me. Normally I am quite reserved,” said Jatinder, a fourth-generation Indian whose roots are in Punjab.

His father own a farm in Te Aroha near Hamilton, while his mother, who is from Amritsar, is a housewife. As he was being whisked away to the clubhouse for the confirmation, the crowd gave the youngster a big applause. People who had never known him walked up to him to shake hands and congratulate. Jatinder went about it as if he was dazed. The feeling hadn’t quite sunk in.

“I was sort of buzzing a little bit, waiting for the confirmation. Someone said it may take up to 24 hours, thank goodness I came in two hours…I have no idea what I’ll do with this money. Maybe a new car. I am sick of my car. Maybe I’ll also pay my students loan with that. But honestly I have no idea,” said the youngster, who is a management student at Waikato University.

The scheme that made it happen, ‘Catch-a-Million’, was launched by beer brand Tui for the 10 ODIs starting with the New Zealand-West Indies match on December 26.

One of the requirements is that participants have to come to a match wearing the official orange-coloured Tui T-shirt. Only 250 shirts are sold from the merchandise store at the venue of each match. However, they can also be bought online.

Jatinder is the second person to take the 100,000 dollar catch after Michael Morton continued…